MARICOPA COUNTY, Arizona — Who’s watching people out of custody on ankle monitors awaiting trial in Maricopa County, and how does that process work?
Those are some of the basic questions the ABC15 Investigators have been asking the Adult Probation Department here in Maricopa County over the last year.
The probation department is under the umbrella of the county superior court. Within that department is a division known as pretrial services.
Beyond that, not much is known about how the monitoring works. In fact, the Maricopa County Attorney has said ankle monitors are not “live” monitored.
“I think people envision that there’s somebody monitoring you know a red dot on a screen following where these individuals are,” said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell back in 2025. “There is no live monitoring. So, to me it’s a false security to have ankle monitoring.”
CUT AND RUN
Nearly four years ago, an early school pickup to celebrate academic achievements took a turn for one Valley family.
On October 27, 2022, Cassidy Moreno was riding in a car with her family near 16th Street and Greenway and Phoenix.
“Suddenly, one of the texts that came in was ‘Cassidy got shot’,” said the young girl’s aunt Thali Vargas.
A road rage dispute ended with shots being fired into the Moreno family’s car.
“The location of her wound, there was no chance,” Vargas said. “They told them that there was no chance that she was going to make it.”
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Police said Cassidy was killed by Sidney Garrand. The now 52-year-old was indicted on multiple charges, including second-degree murder.
In 2022, Garrand had his bond amount reduced and was released from custody on an ankle monitor.
“When we first found out it was an electronic monitor, just because, again, the severity of the situation,” Vargas said. “I thought it was a little bit silly, for lack of a better word, that they would trust that the situation would be handled that way.”
In early 2024, as trial quickly approached, suddenly Garrand disappeared.
Court documents showed Garrand, “allowed the electronic monitoring system to lose power.”
Those records said he had last been traveling west toward the Maricopa County line and was believed to be in Mexico.
With Garrand gone, his trial took place without him.
A jury convicted him on all charges, but to this day Garrand has not been found.
“He still had all this time free and kind of just laughing not just at the system, but at the victims, the family members of the victims,” Vargas said.
A representative from the bail bonds company later testified in court at a bond forfeiture hearing.
He described a conversation with a pretrial services officer about Garrand's disappearance.
“But they called to let us know that he actually cut his monitor off," said Jose Gomez with Sanctuary Bail Bonds.
There is still a warrant out for Garrand, but his sentencing can’t take place unless he’s found.
NOT “LIVE” MONITORED
The ABC15 Investigators have covered others who have been accused of escaping their monitor and running.
There are even more who have been arrested and accused of new crimes while also out of custody on a monitor.
In 2025, ABC15 spoke with police about the case against Alex Bangash.
The 23-year-old, who is an accused serial rapist, bonded out of custody with an ankle monitor.
Records showed that monitor was found in an alley by his home, and Bangash was later discovered in a rural Texas county.
Soon after, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell took questions about GPS monitors at a press conference.
“Monitoring is kind of a misnomer,” County Attorney Mitchell said. “It’s not nothing, but it’s certainly not what everybody thinks it is.”
Over the last year, the ABC15 Investigators have sent various questions about the supervision of those out awaiting trial with GPS monitors.
According to the Maricopa County Adult Probation Department, as of August, they were supervising over one thousand people out of custody on an ankle monitor waiting for their day in court.
ABC15 sent in numerous questions hoping to learn more about how those defendants are monitored and the process of responding to alerts. The department said that information is confidential.
“The Department follows detailed, confidential policies and protocols for monitoring,” the department said in an emailed response.
ABC15 was told that defendants are “actively” monitored, but the department would not describe how.
“You know, it's all wordsmithing on the part of the chief,” said public safety expert Stan Kephart.
Kephart served in law enforcement for decades, including as a county chief probation officer in California.
“The ankle monitor, when it's breached, that will send an electronic message," Kephart said. "But it doesn't say anything after that as to where the person is going."
HOW MANY HAVE ABSCONDED?
So how many people have run? The ABC15 Investigators learned the Maricopa County Adult Probation Department doesn’t know.
ABC15 asked for the number over the last three years for people who have absconded, violated the terms of their release, or were arrested on new charges
“The court does not maintain existing reports that would allow us to respond to the remaining questions,” said the department’s response.
At one point our team even asked who else would be tracking those numbers.
“Adult Probation is a Department of the Judicial Branch responsible for maintaining all relevant records; however, as previously indicated, the Department does not have records responsive to this request,” said another emailed response.
The department has also stressed that electronic monitoring it a tool to supervise and will not prevent someone from committing a new crime.
“They're right,” Kephart said. “They're unfortunately right. I don't think that needs to be the point, nor do I think that's a legitimate defense for continuing to use a tool and not improving it.”
He believes there should be a review and is also encouraging judges to take notice.
“The judges should be concerned about public safety, and do what I said,” Kephart said. “Convene a panel, take public input, don't decide whether or not the system is broken. It's broken.”
ABC15 was told by the Maricopa County Superior Court that BI Incorporated is supplying monitors to the county.
Our team reached out multiple times but still have not received a response.
Prior to this story, our team also requested an interview with the county’s probation department.
